I have a lot of albums, around 1200 or so. My house has a lot of light and the sun fades and warps vinyl, so I converted an old utility closet into a record shelf. I pulled out the closet pole and installed 5, 1" untreated plywood shelves 14" apart. I have no problem fitting the oversized box sets on them. Works perfect. Keeps them cool and keeps people from pulling them out and messing with them, too. I have my 45's in boxes stored on the floor underneath the bottom shelf. I call it my "secret stash."

I bought my rack in the days when people still owned records, and CDs were new. It has movable shelves and storage for both. It really only holds maybe 3 shelves of records, but it holds enough for my main collection. I bought some of those chrome kitchen type shelves as well and added panels to the sides so the records won't fall off.

As for the "Now Playing" stand, you can use the little display rack used by freaks who collect and display plates. I also have a 7 CD changer and found a little rack in some thrift store that allows me to have those out on display as well.

I have my LPs filed vertically with the spine showing. If you purchase plastic outersleeves it keeps the LP covers dust free and keeps the surface safe from friction wear, such as ring marks or errant kittens using them for a scratching post.

best to store lps in a cool, dry, dark area - with reasonable air circulation. before & after each play, thoroughly clean the disk. you can still find paper sleeves for the vinyl and there are polyethylene sleeves for protecting the album cover and all!

don't stack or put weight on the stored vinyl.

and try to avoid "loaning" records... digitize the data and store everything you can as digital files. record mountains can be reduced to record hillsides if you "loan" stuff out.

...
> BTW, they make a larger size that is
> 6ft x 6ft... you could make a room
> divider out of it and use a shelf or
> 2 for vinyl, some for mugs, some for
> your Precious Moments or Hummels.
>

NOOOOOOOooooooo!!! Thoughts of Conan
O'Brien's "If They Made It" (or what-
ever) segment running through my head.
MUST NOT THINK OF THE MATING
OF A TIKI AND PRECIOUS MOMENTS!!!
AAIEEEEEEEGH!

BTW, I use wooden "crates" to hold my
400+ vinyl albums and 12" singles. I
bought them YEARS ago. The "ends" were
already assembled but I had to nail
the connecting slats into place. I
precisely spaced the slats so that I
can stack them and they "interlock".
I had a few slats left over so I made
a sort of "closed top" shelf on the
top of the top one.

Since this thread I found a vintage record stand, the ones with the wire separators, but in chrome instead of brass!

I scored it for $3 at my local flea market. My collection has also grown to over 150, completely filling the rack. At only .10 - $1.50 they're irresistible when hunting at thrift stores and garage sales.

I recently exhumed my vinyl collection from the catacombs aka parents' basement and grabbed a brand new turntable. The vinyl bug bit me again and I have been searching thrifts. At an average price of a buck per LP, I have already doubled my collection.

I have several storage areas. My hi fi gear resides on a vintage Danish Modern entertainment center which comes with sectional spaces for LPs. I quickly exhausted the space there. Mrs Lord and I then grabbed an Expedit shelf from Ikea, although not the same size as the one previously shown. I sense we will need another before too long. I have my 45s sealed in protective plastic sleeves and stored in a special box. All of this is in our den/music room.

Finally, the bulk of my Tiki and Space Age Pop genre LPs reside on one of those retro record racks from the 50s. It stands in the living room next to my vintage Magnavox turntable, which looks like a Danish Modern lamp table.

Like I said before, I got these at Lowe's for about $50 each. That was a few years ago (three, maybe?), though. I guess they each hold around 1,000 LPs and they are Very Sturdy. I've had shelves that had to be reinforced beyond their original design before, and a few that have collapsed after a few years of strain. These bad boys are really tough.

I too use the Ikea shelf. Each "square" will actually hold a milk crate. It is so perfect for LPs one might think it was actually made with us collectors in mind. When assembling it I left out the middle verticle piece in the top row, which now houses my turntable. Stability was not affected. I also attached two clip-on lights to the back so I can see the grooves perfectly.